Mochi

Total Time: 33 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 3 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 2
• 7 tablespoons glutinous-rice flour (can be mochiko, but i used a thai brand)
• 5 tablespoons boiling water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup roasted unsalted peanuts (best if skinned, too)

Recipe

• 1 in a bowl (i use a souffle-size bowl, around 2 cups) stir together the rice flour and sugar.
• 2 while mixing with a spoon or small stiff spatula, pour in the boiling water.
• 3 stir in clockwise direction until the lumps disappear, and the batter is slightly elasticky, about 2 minutes (note: it will become difficult to stir, but try your best anyway!).
• 4 cover the container with plastic wrap, and microwave on high for 2-4 minutes, depending on your microwave.
• 5 meanwhile, grease a ziploc bag well.
• 6 invert the bag (oil side out), and remove the mochi from the bowl into the bag (you can let it cool a bit before you do this, but the more you cool it, the harder the bowl will become to clean =/). don't burn yourself!
• 7 while the mochi is still warm, start kneading. to knead: stretch and flatten the dough inside the bag with the palm of your hand, then pick up the bag at one corner, shake it so that it rolls into a ball again, then repeat. you can also knead it by placing the mochi into a greased bowl, and knead it as you would a normal dough. knead for about 7~10 minutes, or to the consistency (chewiness) you want.
• 8 to prepare the coating: process the peanuts in a blender or food processor, and spread the powder out in a plate. do not add sugar to the coating! because the sugar will dissolve with the moisture in the mochi, making it super sticky.
• 9 pull off a teaspoonful-sized mochi ball with your hand, and coat in peanut powder. alternatively, if you prepared it inside a bag, cut off a 1/4" corner, and squeeze from the bag. separate the balls with greased scissors, or with chopsticks =p.
• 10 enjoy!
• 11 variations: instead of using a coating, you could also wrap sweet red bean paste inside the mochi for daifukus =).